At last, the path is cleared to boot out hate cleric Abu Qatada

HATE preacher Abu Qatada appeared to be one step closer to a long-awaited deportation from Britain last night after Jordanian authorities announced they had plugged a legal loophole that was preventing his return.

Jordan’s justice minister yesterday revealed his government had changed its laws to block the use of evidence obtained by torture.

The move will help Britain try to overcome a deportation ban that was imposed last month by the European Court of Human Rights.

News that the last barrier to the removal of Qatada, once described as “Osama bin Laden’s right-hand man in Europe”, had been crossed prompted calls for his immediate deportation.

Conservative MP Dominic Raab, said: “There is no more legal squabbling that can possibly be justified now that Jordan has answered the ECHR’s concerns. Abu Qatada should be deported to face trial without delay. No ifs, no buts.”

Gerard Batten, Ukip MEP and party Home Affairs spokesman, said: “This is excellent news from Jordan. They have complied with the wishes of the British Government and the European Court of Human Rights.

There is no more legal squabbling that can possibly be justified now that Jordan has answered the ECHR’s concerns.

Conservative MP Dominic Raab

“There is no reason for further delay. We should put him on a plane without any delay and fly him back to Jordan without reference to the ECHR.”

Qatada was granted asylum in Britain in 1994 after claiming he had been tortured in Jordan. In 1999 he was sentenced in his absence to life imprisonment for terror offences. He has been fighting deportation since 2001.

After the Supreme Court gave Home Secretary Theresa May the green light to send him home she told the Commons last week he posed “a serious threat to UK security”.

But last month the European court ruled he would not get a fair trial, because even though Britain had secured a no-torture deal with Jordan, the evidence used in his 1999 conviction was gathered using torture.

Jordan’s legislative affairs minister Ayman Odeh said the change in Jordanian law “mentions very expressly that any evidence obtained from torture or a threat of torture should not be admissible before the courts”.

He added that the amendment should convince the ECHR that Qatada will get a fair trial when he returns to Jordan.

The breakthrough follows talks between Prime Minister David Cameron and King Abdullah of Jordan. The news came on the day Qatada was due to be released on bail from Long Lartin high security prison in Worcestershire.

A Special Immigration Appeals Commission last week ordered the “truly dangerous individual” be freed on strict conditions after six-and-a-half years either behind bars or under virtual house arrest fighting deportation.

The terms of his release include a 22-hour curfew, a ban on him making any public statements, preaching and using a telephone or computer without permission and even a ban on taking his youngest son to school.

He is strictly forbidden from contacting 25 named individuals, including Ayman al-Zawahiri, who is bin Laden’s successor as Al Qaeda leader. It is estimated it will take up to 60 police officers and MI5 agents, at a cost of £10,000 a week, to give him round-the-clock protection at his north London home.

Justice Secretary Ken Clarke last night said the ECHR “should be free to deal with the most serious violations of human rights, not swamped with an endless backlog of cases”.